Snow warning for major European airports

17 January 2013

17/01/2013

Significant cold has returned to much of Europe following a mild spell, paving the way for outbreaks of snow until at least the start of next week.

Icy and snow-covered roadways will disrupt ground travel in some areas. Air traffic will be subject to flight delays and cancellations. Much of central and western Europe will have days of temperatures running 10F to 15F below normal.

Widespread snow, locally heavy, will fall in the UK, Germany, the Low Countries and France, to name a few. Even in southern Europe, parts of Italy, Spain and the Balkan Peninsula, will be subject to potentially heavy snow.

One storm is predicted to dump a foot or more of heavy mountain snow, between Wednesday and Friday, over an area from the Pyrenees region of Spain and France, through much of Italy, eastward into the Balkan lands of Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. Some lowland cities, in Italy and elsewhere, will also get heavy snowfall. Another storm may bring heavy snow on Friday and Saturday in a swath over the UK and France to the western Alps.

Airlines have warned about a possible risk of large accumulations of snow at some major European airports, including Amsterdam Schiphol. Airports that could be affected by snowfall include Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Basle, Geneva and Zurich.

Meanwhile, Lyon airport has reopened but access to the airport is difficult. Customers expecting to fly to Lyon yesterday were advised to plan for possible disruption.